NOVEL NEXT Chapter 424: 422: Ox-Head and Horse-Face
Chapter 424: Chapter 422: Ox-Head and Horse-Face
“`
Eight thousand meters is a line between life and death.
Pulmonary edema, cerebral edema, hypothermia, slips and falls—these are the four killers above an altitude of eight thousand meters.
In this thin air zone, sometimes a cough could take a person’s life, even taking a breath could cause excruciating pain as if tearing the liver and splitting the belly. In bad weather, low temperature, violent winds, and blizzards can claim the lives of even the strongest climbers.
But for Bi Fang, the more unbelievable the environment, the more demanding the requirements, the more invigorated his blood flowed when he later enjoyed the relaxation after the pressure passed.
Perhaps this is the rationale behind all adventure sports: to clear your mind of mundane concerns, you consciously increase the stakes of working hard and focusing.
This is a replica of life.
But there’s one difference: in your daily life, mistakes can be corrected, compromises can make up for faults, but at this specific time, your actions are a matter of life and death.
The spectators silently fixed their gaze on the world’s highest peak along with Bi Fang’s view, the true “Mount Everest,” standing right there, seemingly within reach, yet unattainable.
This line between life and death, even the current Bi Fang could not easily cross, he stood there, stunned.
To the viewers, it seemed as if there really was an unbreachable line of guard around the colossal peak.
Rob, Puba, and many other climbers, at this moment, all had pupils trembling with fear. Would they take that step? Would they take that step?
The effective oxygen content in the air at Camp C4 is only about 7.7%, which makes it very difficult for a normal person to concentrate or even lowers one’s IQ.
Even if Bi Fang stopped here, Puba could completely understand.
At an altitude of 8000 meters, everyone undergoes a change. This change is reflected in the boundless amplification of emotions and the excessive fear of the uncertain factors of high altitude.
Sadness, hysteria, irritability—all rush to the head at once, but venting emotions to resolve inner fears is actually of no help at all, it only consumes more oxygen and energy.
In the village, Danzeng’s heart clenched, Edinburgh’s eyebrows twitched slightly, Wang Yongbo’s beer belly trembled, Yao Jun’s feet jittered back and forth.
From base camp to Camp 4,
You might encounter bad weather,
That prevents you from moving forward,
And you may even wait for many days.
Impatient, reckless emotions,
Test your patience,
Or you might experience blurred vision, frostbite, and other symptoms.
Mount Everest is like a big testing ground,
Where every detail of your body is subjected to extreme scrutiny,
A small problem can be magnified here,
It shows you where the limits of your body are,
Past Camp 4, you enter the zone above 8000 meters,
The continuous presence of victims on the road declares this as,
The Death Zone!
At this moment, Bi Fang was unable to speak, nor could he talk, he just silently took out his phone, looked at the meager battery left, opened the map, and clicked on his location.
Perhaps due to the signal, the buffering circle kept spinning.
At this time, Bi Fang seemed to feel unwell, began to gasp for air incessantly, like a person who’s about to drown but can’t catch a breath!
At such a bizarre scene, the audience instantly panicked. If something were to happen, what would they do? There was nobody else on the mountain; Bi Fang could only wait for death!
The executives from Shark and Tiger Fang both widened their eyes, staring intently at the screen, and silently sent their regards to the deities of various sects in their hearts.
[Hurry up and retreat, Old Fang, hurry up!]
[Life is the priority, life is the priority!]
[The mountain will always be there, come back next time, come back next time!]
[It’s no use, he can’t see the bullet chat!]
“`
Just when everyone was getting anxious, the spinning circle on the cellphone finally stopped, signaling that the information had loaded.
A burst of laughter cut through the tense atmosphere as everyone’s minds crashed on the spot.
Bi Fang pointed to the cellphone’s GPS and laughed heartily, “Look, I’m back in my country!”
The cellphone was held high, and at that moment, the audience could see clearly that the cellphone’s GPS was showing: Huaxia!
Not Nepal, but Huaxia.
This place was none other than their homeland!
And the time on the phone was changing, advancing by two hours and fifteen minutes!
It became exactly the same as the time countless Huaxia viewers saw on their phones!
After taking a few breaths, Bi Fang continued, “Once you reach Camp C4, your phone’s GPS will switch to Huaxia! The time will also automatically set to the Huaxia time zone. Remember not to miss anything because of a mistake in time, I don’t know if this counts as smuggling, but luckily there are no sentries here, so I don’t have to worry about getting my brain blasted.”
After saying that, Bi Fang fell silent, clearly, the recent heaving of his chest was just to pace himself for this speech.
It was Old Fang’s style.
Yes, it matched the character.
[Now, you deserve a burst of gunfire in your head, no, a whole magazine!]
[Wori, you were gasping just to say that?]
[You’re scaring us to insanity!]
The audience was beside themselves with frustration but also couldn’t help laughing; it turned out the heavy breathing was to build up the strength to speak!
Ever since the altitude exceeded 7,600 meters, Bi Fang had stopped speaking, and the audience had gotten used to it. They didn’t expect him to suddenly drop such a line, which left them dumbfounded.
The Death Zone?
To arrive was to enter the Death Zone!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Bi Fang pocketed his phone and stepped forward, marching towards the summit!
That was fucking crazy!
Watching Bi Fang move forward without a second thought, the audience was completely thrilled; this was Master Fang, this was truly Master Fang!
Especially the viewers from the Huaxia region, their eyes were bright with fervor; could he really make history?
The first Huaxia person to summit without oxygen, the first Huaxia person to do an oxygen-less solo ascent!
All expectations seemed to be validated with this single step he took.
However, the next moment, the exhilarated audience felt as though a bucket of cold water had been dumped over their heads.
Corpses.
They were everywhere.
The summit was in sight, but death was even closer; above eight thousand meters, not only the beautiful peaks greeted them, but also the bodies of those who had perished, stark and conspicuous.
From the first-person perspective, the audience suddenly felt fear and even weakness, to the point where their legs softened, so much so that they could not stand, even though it was not them on the mountain.
In this final stretch, giving up might require even more courage than going forward.
Yet Bi Fang’s mentality wasn’t affected at all. Beyond eight thousand meters, he saw more than a hundred corpses—far more than a hundred, in fact!
If you considered it in terms of vertical height, there was a body every five meters or less along this eight-hundred-meter stretch.
Such a high frequency of dead bodies, how could one not feel terror?
It was as if their destination wasn’t the highest peak, or a place of glory and courage, but rather, they were stepping on the Road to the Underworld, heading towards the gates of the afterlife.
Would they encounter ox-headed and horse-faced guards further ahead?
This ridiculous thought flashed through the minds of the audience members, but as more and more bodies appeared, they all fell silent once again.
The Death Zone, true to its name.